Scribd Reaches Profitability, Hiring (video)

October 15, 2009
Scribd is storing 10 times more words than Wikipedia!

Scribd is storing 10 times more words than Wikipedia!

At Dow Jones’ VentureWire Tech Showcase event yesterday I met with Scribd co-founder Jared Friedman to talk about the San Francisco, Calif.-startup’s latest news: reaching profitability and hiring engineers.

“Scribd is the largest social publishing website where anyone can publish original writings and documents and share them with the world,” explains Friedman.

What is sometimes referred as the YouTube for documents has so far raised $13 million and stores more than 10 million documents which translates to more than 35 billion words – 10 times the size of Wikipedia! “We’re storing 1% of all public documents on the Web.”

How Scribd deals with piracy; sees Amazon, Google as main competitors

As for piracy- uploads of copyrighted documents – Scribd has developed technologies to help prevent copyright infringement.

“When infringing works are uploaded to Scribd they are matched against a huge library of reference database that we’ve assembled that has a huge list of works that are copyrighted. And if they found to be a match they are taken out immediately,” adds Friedman.

For Friedman, Google (with its Books initiative) and Amazon (with the Kindle) will ultimately be Scribd main competitors.

The 40-employees startup reached profitability in the second quarter this year, monetising through targeted ads – which displays on the side of every documents – and revenue share for every document sold on its service.

The other good news is that Scribd is actively hiring engineers!

Follows is my interview with Friedman.

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Tough Financing Market For Solar Farms May Ease Next Year

October 15, 2009

The economic collapse of 2008 turned the credit market for large-scale solar farms into a financial desert.

Capital was simply not availability through much of the year. The constraint eased modestly in recent months. Now there are suggestions money may begin to flow again next year

Solar projects are bankable because investors are seeking safer returns, says Martin Roscheisen of Nanosolar

Solar projects are bankable because investors are seeking safer returns, says Martin Roscheisen of Nanosolar

Industry executives say market conditions remain difficult. “Lenders are holding onto their money much more tightly,” says Dan Judge, general counsel of solar thermal company BrightSource Energy. “The market is not what it was in 2005 and 2006.”

But there are signs that investors and banks have shifted their focus from risky financial derivatives and complex Wall Street instruments to the relative safety of long-term energy projects. There also are suggestions new banks from Europe and Asia may begin lending for solar construction, expanding a small field of only eight to 12 banks working on projects today.

Next year should see significant growth in solar projects between 10 and 50 MW in size, says Ban Jacoby, managing director of energy investment consultants CP Energy.

The rise in competition for deals also may lower expected investment returns, which by some estimates have reached a percentage in the mid teens, compared with a more traditional single-digit rate.

Already an easing of credit hurdles is aiding wind power developers, where less risky deals are getting done.

At present “there are (solar) deals getting done, but there is not a lot of liquidity in the market,” reports Tom Glascock, a partner at the San Francisco law firm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Yet despite the difficult environment, thin-film solar projects are “bankable,” says Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Nanosolar. Capital is seeking safe returns and solar projects fit the bill because they are backed by electric rate payers, he said.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

GM Sees Long Term Oil Prices Of $130 A Barrel, A Boon For Alternative Energy

October 15, 2009

Much has been made of rising oil prices.

Some experts believe the coming holiday season is the justification for barrel prices spiking above $75 for the first time in a year. More drivers than anticipated will take to the road and more gasoline will be bought.

World is close to 85 percent of peak oil production, the car company forecasts

World is close to 85 percent of peak oil production, the car company forecasts

Other investors argue the prospect of stronger industrial demand in an improving global economy makes oil is undervalued.

Whatever the explanation, and whatever the price jump, prepare for oil to go higher over the long haul. That should set the stage for a boon in alternative energies.

The worldwide peak in oil production is on the horizon and relative scarcity is inevitable.  No one knows when the peak will be reached – but its arrival in 10 or 20 years will do more than raise prices. It will lift the demand for alternative energy technologies more rapidly than government subsidies being doled out today.

At GM, forecasters believe the world is near 85 percent of peak production, says Byron Shaw, managing director at the company’s advanced technology office in Silicon Valley. Over the long haul, the company anticipates oil prices will stabilize near $130 a barrel, Shaw said this week at a meeting of the German American Business Association.

If so, it will change the market dynamics for solar, wind, biofuel and other new-gen energies in a hurry. It seems clear that with large-scale plants expected to take up to 10 years to develop the world needs to pick up the pace  today.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Saving Carbon: Electric Sheep Plans Virtual Facebook Concerts

October 14, 2009

With companies such as Cisco Systems driving hard to cut corporate travel and the greenhouse gases it produces by holding meetings virtually, a similar opportunity for consumers would make sense

CEO Sibley Verbeck envisions a 24/7 music festival on Facebook

CEO Sibley Verbeck envisions a 24/7 music festival on Facebook

The Electric Sheep Company is eager to provide it. The virtual worlds creator said late Tuesday it is preparing a virtual concert service for Facebook that will let devotes watch live music without leaving home.

CEO Sibley Verbeck says he envisions a 24X7 festival that people could visit when they want. Viewers would assume an avatar and navigate a virtual concert hall to interact with others, even dance.

Steam Jam is still in early development and features, such as social games and activities, have yet to be added. It uses Adobe’s Flash and is browser based, meaning that a software download is not needed. The company hopes to have hundreds of events lined up by the spring and, by summer, permit concert producers to set up shows on their own without the need to contact Electric Sheep engineers.

Eventually, the company sees the opportunity to charge for tickets (says, $1) and sell virtual goods, such as a band t-shirt.

There also is an initiative to attract retailers and brand marketers to create non-musical events of their own. “We’re doing that for hire,” Verbeck said during a presentation at the Dow Jones VentureWire Technology Showcase in Silicon Valley. But “I’m personally focused on the music industry.”

The company sees Facebook as an avenue to the mass-market adoption of virtual-world events. If successful, gathering online could help make a dent in global warming, since travel to and from concert halls would be avoided.

But Electric Sheep doesn’t seem to be primarily motivated by a do-good climate-change ethos. “It’s a way to get more fans (to) live events,” whether across the country or the world, says Verbeck.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Dell Confirms U.S. Smartphone Launch In 2010 (video)

October 13, 2009
CEO and founder Michael Dell in a conversation with Wall Street Journal San Francisco deputy bureau chief Don Clark at the Churchill Club

CEO and founder Michael Dell in a conversation with Wall Street Journal San Francisco deputy bureau chief Don Clark at the Churchill Club

Update: Added the section when Michael Dell confirmed the launch.

At a Churchill Club event tonight, Michael Dell confirmed to me that he plans to launch a smartphone in the U.S. next year.

The computer maker has been rumoured to announce a deal to bring its Android-powered smartphone to AT&T sometime in the future. It is clear now that it will happen probably in the first months of next year.

This summer, Dell launched its mini 3i smartphone with China Mobile, which runs a custom version of Google’s Android software called oPhone OS. However, for the U.S. version, I expect Dell to take a more “classic” Android version and make minor user interface and service tweaks.

The upcoming smartphone launch in the U.S. will come 3-years after Michael Dell hired Motorola’s handset chief Ron Garriques to lead the Texas-company consumer business.

Follows a short video of Garriques I shot last year when I visited Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, and in which he explains that Dell is indeed very keen in launching consumer devices – beyond just PCs and laptops – such as smartphones, music players, etc.

And the section when I asked Michael Dell about the launch of the Dell smartphone in the U.S.:

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The Better Place Battery Swapping Scheme Could Work Says GM Manager

October 13, 2009

Better Place’s plan to refuel electric cars by swapping their batteries at specially designed service stations could work, says Byron Shaw, managing director at General Motors’ advanced technology office in Silicon Valley.

Better Place will have a better chance of succeeding in countries where drivers cover shorter distances, says Byron Shaw

Better Place will have a better chance of succeeding in countries where drivers cover shorter distances, says Byron Shaw

In countries where drivers typically cover shorter distances – such as Israel – it has the best changes of succeeding, Shaw said. “It will work in certain places.”

Shaw offered his observations during an interview Monday evening at a gathering of the German American Business Association in Silicon Valley.

At GM, if “we thought we could get the cost of the battery (out of the car) we would,” he said, explaining that electric car batteries are an expensive component.

Better Place believes it has done so by taking ownership of the battery and installing recharged batteries in cars for a service fee. The company also plans a network of charging stations for vehicle owners to plug in.

The firm hopes to have 100,000 cars on the roads in Denmark and Israel – its first two markets – by 2016. California also is a target market.

In Israel, drivers often travel short distances, said Shaw. In Denmark, also a small country, the Better Place plan “might work” as well, he said.

What about larger Califorina? “It could” work,” he added.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Gartner Says Up To 8 Percent Of Vehicles Will Be Electric By 2020

October 13, 2009

If you need any more proof that responding to climate change is painstakingly slow, here are some electric vehicle estimates from Gartner.

By 2020, between 5 percent and 8 percent of vehicles on the U.S. roads will be battery powered, the research firm says.

Will Americans trade their F-Series trucks for electric cars? Not quickly.

Will Americans trade their F-Series trucks for electric cars? Not quickly.

By 2030, that total will rise to between 15 percent and 20 percent.

“We want to be realistic,” says Vice President Thilo Koslowski. “We see the challenges consumers have adopting these (cars).”

While car companies might find attractive opportunities in these numbers, overall they indicate the change in the American fleet will be relatively slow given the imperative of global warming.

Koslowski, speaking at the German American Business Association Monday evening in Silicon Valley, suggested that even these relatively modest steps require significant changes in consumer habits. Many consumers will become accustom to charging their cars at home, he said. One in five have garages that will make the transition easier and simplify the installation of 240 volt power lines.

But range anxiety – the fear that a car will run out of juice before reaching its destination – is real. And many Americans are rigidly locked into what they buy.

Despite several years of warnings on climate change, the top selling vehicle in September was the Ford F-Series pickup, hardly a gas miser.

In California, obviously, things are different. The state is on the top of the list for the Prius hybrid, with 11,839 sold through 2008. But the next highest state is Florida with only 2,753.

It is likely to take 15 to 20 years to replace today’s vehicles with high efficiency ones – and that is with the support of government programs – says Koslowski.

In other words, Cash for Clunkers II here we come.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Vudu Goes 100% Cloud, Adds Rotten Tomatoes (video)

October 13, 2009

At a press conference last night, Vudu unveiled its new “streamed” user interface (UI) “living in the cloud” with movie recommendation service Rotten Tomatoes.

Vudu downplays own set-top box

Last August, the HD streaming video service, which directly competes with Amazon HD, resurfaced as a 100% “cloud” service, with both the UI and the video content being streamed over the Internet. “We launched our streaming service on Aug 31st and this will be the third update of the service since then… versus having to update the firmware [of the set-top box or TV] every time you want to change a font or tweak the UI,” said Vudu executive vice president of strategy Ed Lichty.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup is now licensing its technology to “high-volume” consumer electronics makers such as LG and Mitsubishi – which embed Vudu in their flat-screen TVs and Blu-Ray players – and has mostly given up trying selling its own set-top box for $150.

“When we launched originally (in 2007) the UI and everything was resident on the box… We still sell it [the box], we still support it, they’re very important customers for us, but the future for sure is in this embedded world,” explained Lichty to me.

Largest HD movie selection on the Web, “buy to own”

Vudu claims to provide “a-la carte” nearly all the latest DVD movies available (over 16,000 now) – while Netflix is focused on older content – and to be the only one streaming 1080p HD content (2,200 titles) with its HDX technology (which does require a minimum bandwidth of 4.5Mbps), when Amazon is still limited to 780p.

That’s in part due to Vudu’s proprietary compression technology and its use of content delivery networks (CDN).

At this point, only a handful of online HD movies are available for sale (buy to own), from Disney and some independent movie studios. “That’s a big area we’re pushing for in our studio relationships right now… if they [movie studios] want people to buy and own digital content, it really needs to be in HD.”

No Web channel support yet

However, Vudu’s new cloud service does not support Internet services yet – but the set-top box does – like YouTube, Pandora, Flickr or Picasa, but promised it will be added soon. “We understand there’s real demand for it and we do plan to expand to include these services at some point,” added Lichty.

No Hulu on TVs

Finally, Lichty confided that he doesn’t see the Hulu content coming to set-top boxes or other consumer electronics devices like TVs or Blu-Ray players anytime soon because it will compete head-to-head with the studio relationships with their cable partners.

Follows is my conversation with Lichty,

… as well as Lichty formal presentation of the new service at the Dolby theatre.

Finally, is a short video of Dolby marketing director John Griffin, giving a tour of the company’s “reference” theatre, which is a very quiet “box in a box,” ideal to showcase movie premieres:

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G24 Says It Is Shipping Dye Sensitive Solar Cells

October 12, 2009

Dye sensitive solar cells hold out the promise of being cheap to make and exceptionally useful, since they can be printed on a flexible materials, such as plastic.

A dye sensitive solar cell from G24 Innovations

A dye sensitive solar cell from G24 Innovations

On Monday, G24 Innovations claimed it shipped the first commercial modules of this promising technology to bag maker Mascotte Industrial Associates of Hong Kong

G24 said the module generates electricity both indoors and out to recharge devices such as mobile phones, cameras and portable LED lights. It is produced using a “roll-to-roll” manufacturing process.

Mascotte will display several bags at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair this week. They should be available for sale in December.

G24 licensed the dye sensitive technology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2006. If the cells prove to have respectable capacity the shipments are a notable achievement.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Tech Price Watch: 1TB Disk Drives Under $60

October 12, 2009
Western Digital is the price leader for 1TB disk drives!

Western Digital is the price leader for 1TB disk drives!

If you think of it, that’s just 6 cents per gigabyte -  5 years ago it was almost 20 times that!

With a 1TB bare-bone (internal) disk drive at less than $60 at Fry’s Electronics, Western Digital (WD) is the absolute low price leader… for this week! The same drive cost $20 more a couple weeks ago.

The other notable price decrease since last week is a 2TB serial ATA/300 now at $160 ($10 less than Seagate) by Hitachi.

I also was impressed by the low price of the Kingston 64GB Solid-State Drive (SSD) that now only costs $100. I would recommend one in a heart beat: I revived my old MacBook with a 80GB Kingston SSD and is now doing most of the video post-production (importing, editing and exporting)!

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